Hi, I’m travelling in Jul-Aug 2027 with 3 adults and 2 children mainly by rail. We are travelling from Zurich - Milan - Venice - Rome - Cinque Terra - Nice - Marseille - Paris - London. Is it too far out to book rail tickets as some of the prices are extreme. For example, the train from Venice - Rome is $709 for all 5 of us, prices for Marseille - Paris are just as high. I have already booked Eurostar for Paris - London which was $471, so why are the other routes so expensive? Any suggestions? PS $ are in Australian dollars.
Question
2027 July-August Travelling
+10It sounds like you are booking full tickets. I would think this trip will be much cheaper with an Interrail pass.
Without knowing the children's ages, or what exactly you're buying, it's hard to be specific.
A$709 is €444. That's expensive for Venice-Rome when you can probably get cheap (inflexible) tickets for €20- €30 per person, but maybe you're looking at more expensive, more flexible first class tickets?
Where are you finding these prices?
Thx for responding, I’m looking on Rome2Rio site. Children ages are 6 and 2. Definitely not looking at 1st class. I’ve considered a Global Pass but they are so expensive nearly $3k. We are travelling from 14/7 -18/8 in Europe by train then hiring a car in the Uk. Need to travel on specific dates as well.
+10At that age, the children will get free railpasses, so you’re only looking at paying for the adults (plus 5x reservation fees, for the trains that need to be reserved).
Rome2Rio is OK for an overview, but it wouldn’t be where I book. I would look at Rail Europe for pricing, but then probably book direct with each operator. Also note that paying in EUR (GBP, when for the UK trains) will always be cheapest. They add a heavy conversion fee for other currencies.
I had a quick look at Venice to Rome on Italo. Indeed it’s looking like €87 / A$139 per adult in June (the latest week that’s currently on sale), but I think it’s just because they haven’t put the cheap tickets on sale yet. Look at January, for example, and you’ll see seats for €30.
For TGVs in France, tickets for early summer will go on sale on 11 November, but that won’t cover July August. https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/help/ticket-sales-opening
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